Garment rack

ABSTRACT

A garment rack is disclosed for movably supporting a set of hangers and garments or other articles hung thereon. The garment rack comprises a frame including a base having two substantially parallel members connected together at opposite ends thereof by a transverse member and two stanchions extending upwardly from the opposite ends of the parallel base members. The rack further includes a rail supported by the frame and a hanger rod movably suspended beneath the rail upon which hanger rod a set of hangers may be hung. A pair of hooks extend upwardly from the hanger rod with each hook carrying at least one roller for rotation upon the rail. A pair of arcuate guide rods extend upwardly from and then arc over to one side of the hanger rod. An elongated bar is slidably mounted upon the guide rods for movement onto and off of an upper surface of the hanger rod.

United States Patent 1 [111 3,921,814

Solomon 5] Nov. 25, 1975 GARMENT RACK Primary Examiner-Ramon S. BrittS[76] Inventor: Archie Solomon, 950 Sun Valley Attorney n or Firm Newtn'Hopkms Drive, PO. Box 395, Roswell, Ga. Ormsby 22 Filed: Mar. 26, 1974[57] ABSTRACT Appl. No.: 454,806

A garment rack is disclosed for movably supporting a set of hangers andgarments or other articles hung thereon. The garment rack comprises aframe including a base having two substantially parallel membersconnected together at opposite ends thereof by a transverse member andtwo stanchions extending upwardly from the opposite ends of the parallelbase members. The rack further includes a rail supported by the frameand a hanger rod movably suspended beneath the rail upon which hangerrod a set of hangers may be hung. A pair of hooks extend upwardly fromthe hanger rod with each hook carrying at least one roller for rotationupon the rail. A pair of arcuate guide rods extend upwardly from andthen arc over to one side of the hanger rod, An elongated bar isslidably mounted upon the guide rods for movement onto and off of anupper surface of the hanger rod.

6C1aims, 6 Drawing Figures U.S. Patent Nov, 25, 1975' Sheetl of 4 US.Patent Nov. 25, 1975 Sheet2of4 3,921,814

U.S. Patent Nov. 25, 1975 Sheet30f4 3,921,814

FIG 3 .46

US. Patent Nov. 25, 1975 Sheet 4 of4 3,921,814

GARMENT RACK BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relatesgenerally to garment racks, and particularly to portable type garmentracks upon which a set of garments may be readily hung and transportedfrom one location to another.

Racks upon which garments may be hung have heretofore been devised forready movement from one location to another. One such garment rack isdisclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,303,938 which rack includes a substantiallyhorizontal hanger rod supported by two frame ends which in turn aresupported by a set of casters. The rack is thus adapted to be rolledfrom one location to another over level flooring with the hanger rodmaintaining a substantially horizontal orientation during transit. Inthis manner, hangers and garments suspended therefrom may maintain theirdispositions relative to each other and to the garment rack duringtransit.

Though portable garment racks of the type just described are quiteuseful in reshuffling or relocating sets of garments within a singlebusiness location and handling system, they are of but limited use inmoving sets of garments between independent storage, distribution anddisplay systems and locations. This is occasioned in part by thediversity of rack configurations dictated by the diversity of businessfunctions. For example, garment suspension means employed bymanufacturing concerns are typically quite lengthy and therefore notreadily segmented into individual racks. Racks used in transportinggarments over highways between locations, on the other hand, aretypically built permanently into a moving van or truck in order toprevent the racks from sliding about as loose cargo during transit. Atretail outlets segmented racks with limited mobility are frequentlydevised for display according to size, price and type of garment. Todate, transfer of garments between systems has typically been done byhand which has proved quite inefficient, cumbersome and costly. If meanscould be provided for readily transferring garments between suchindependent systems an advance in the art would definitely be achieved.

Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to providean improved portable garment rack for supporting garments and otherarticles.

More specifically, it is an object of the invention to provide a garmentrack by which a set of garments may be readily transferred from onelocation to another.

Another object of the invention is to provide garment support means foreasily transferring garments between garment handling and distributionsystems of diverse construction.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a garment rack withimproved means for re leasably holding garmentladen hangers firmlythereupon.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In one form of the invention a portable garmentrack is provided for movably supporting a set of hangers and garmentshung thereon. The garment rack comprises a hanger rod upon which a setof hangers may be hung, and a pair of hooks extending upwardly from thehanger rod. Each hook carries at least one roller for rotation upon arail supported above the hanger rod.

In another form of the invention a garment rack is provided comprising ahanger rod upon which hangers may be hung, and means for suspending thehanger rod from overhead support means in a substantially horizontalplane. A pair of arcuate guide rods extend upwardly from the hanger rodand are over to one side thereof. An elongated bar is slidably mountedto the pair of arcuate guide rods for movement onto and off an uppersurface of the hanger rod.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a plan view of a truckunloading garments at a loading dock into an adjoining building housinga garment conveying system.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view in perspective of a portable garment rackembodying principles of the invention in one preferred form.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a portable garment rack embodyingprinciples of the invention in another preferred form.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a portable garment rack embodyingprinciples of the invention in yet another form.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are end-on views, partly in crosssection, of a portion ofthe garment rack shown in FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING Referring now in more detail to thedrawing, there is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 portable garment racks ofsimilar construction with each comprising a hanger rod or support 10suspended beneath a cylindrical rail 12 by means of a pair of hooks 14.Each of the hooks includes a serpentine rod upon which is mounted a box15 in each of which is rotatably housed two rollers 16. Each hookfurther includes an arcuate lip portion 18 which overlays an upper sideportion of rail 12. The lower portion of each hook rod is rotatablyjournalled in a bearing formed integrally with each end of the hangerrod. The pivotable movement provided by this bearing and rodconfiguration enables the portable rack to easily round curves as atrolley suspended beneath rail 12.

From an upper surface of hanger rod 10 projects a stop 20 to limitsliding movement of a set of hangers 22 hung upon the hanger rod. Thestop is dimensioned to be received in a channel 24 formed within anelongated rod 25 slidably mounted to two arcuate guide rods 26 whichproject upwardly and then arc to one side of the hanger rod. Two endcaps28 threaded upon the ends of the arcuate guide rods serve to prevent theelongated bar from falling thereoff.

As previously mentioned, the garment rack is movably supported upon arail 12. In FIG. 2 the rail is seen to be supported beneath anoverhanging angle iron or ancillary support member 30 by means of twobrackets 32. An upper end of each bracket is welded beneath the supportmember while a lower end is welded to a lower surface of rail 12. Twostop arms are pivotally mounted to brackets 32 by pivot pin 36. Eachstop arm is seen to be resting upon the top of the rail thereby servingto limit movement of the portable rack which is dimensioned to belocatable between adjacent brackets and stop arms. When it becomesdesirable to relocate the portable rail one of the stop arms is manuallyrotated off of the top surface of the rail whereby the trolley-likeportable rack may be rolled down the rail.

As positioned in FIG. 2 the garment rack has been relocated past theleft-hand bracket and stop arm and the stop arm itself then relocatedback to a stop position straddled between the two hook members of therack. In FIG. 3, on the other hand, the rack is seen to be movablysupported upon a rail which is permanently mounted to a frame having agenerally Z-shaped base comprising two substantially parallel members 39connected together at opposite ends by a transverse member 40. Twoupright support members or stanchions 42 extend upwardly from theopposite, interconnected base ends. A set of garment ladened hangers 22is seen to be supported upon hanger rod traversing the midpoint of basetransverse member 40. The elongated holding bar rests upon the tops ofthe hangers thereby firmly holding the hanger on the rack sandwichedbetween the horizontally oriented hanger rod and elongated bar. Twopivotal stops 44 are seen to inhibit sliding movement of the trolleyrail off of rail 12. Movement of the rack is permitted to the left inFIG. 3 but the rack could not be moved in the opposite direction on rail12 without manually depressing the stops 44. The offset of stanchions 42with respect to hanger rod 10 enables the garment-ladened hangers to beeasily placed on and removed from the rack.

The portable garment rack of FIG. 3 may be moved over a floor uponcasters 46 as desired. Once it becomes desirable to transfer the set ofclothes and hangers supported thereon to a permanently mounted transportsystem the rack may be moved adjacent a rail 50 permanently suspended bymeans of vertical supports 52 from beneath an overhanging structure asshown in FIG. 3. Once rails 50 and 12 are brought into approximatecoaxial alignment a pivotal linking member 54 may be lowered from avertical orientation as shown in dashed lines to a generally horizontalorientation shown in solid lines coupling the two rails together. Theleft hand stop 44 may then be pivoted and the garmentladened hanger rodand hook assembly rolled to the left as viewed in the Figure off of rail12 and onto rail 50. It will be noted that during the transfer the setof garments remain supported at all times upon the hanger rod wherebythere is no need to remove the garments individually in making thesystem transfer.

In FIG. 1 a transfer operation similar to the one just described isshown by which garments may be removed from a truck 55 into adistribution and display area 56. In this system a truck is seen parkedin the loading area 58 with its rear doors 59 open and with a portablegarment rack 60 of the type illustrated in F IG. 3 positioned adjacentthe rear of the truck. A set of garments 62 suspended from a hanger rod63 is seen being rolled off of a rail 65 permanently mounted within thetruck and onto rack 60. The rack 60 may subsequently be rolled to aterminal 64 and then transferred on to a circuitous track rail 66 forsubsequent distribution to spur tracks 67 and 68.

In FIG. 4 the previously mentioned garment locking "and holding featureis shown incorporated into a portable garment rack of the type describedin the aforementioned patent rather than into a trolley-like rack. Here,the garment rack is seen to include a Z-shaped base 70 having fourcasters 72 rotatably mounted therebeneath and two upright supports 74bridged at the top by a generally horizontally oriented hanger rod 75. Aset of garment-ladened hangers 76 is seen to be hung upon hanger rod 75with an elongated bar 77 disposed thereatop. The elongated bar is seento be slidably mounted upon two arcuate rods 78 which extend upwardlyfrom atop the hanger rod and then arc to one side thereof. Two stops 80are seen to project upwardly from atop the hanger rod intermediate thetwo frame upright members 74 and out through a channel transversing theelongated bar. Two spherical endstops 82 i are threaded upon the ends ofthe arcuate rod to prevent the elongated rod from sliding completelyoff.

In FIGS. 5 and 6 an operative sequence of events is shown in detail forremoving holder rod 77 off from atop hangers 76 and hanger rod 75. InFIG. 5 rod 77 is seen rested by the force of gravity over hanger rodwith hanger 76 sandwiched between the elongated bar and hanger rod. Whenit becomes desirable to remove the hangers or have access theretoelongated rod 77 is simply pushed upwardly and thence to one side alongthe guide rods into a resting position on endstops 82.

Though the racks just described have been shown supporting garments suchas coats, they may, of course, be used to support many other articles.As to the racks themselves, many modifications may be made in theirconstruction without departure from the spirit and scope of theinvention as set forth in the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A portable garment rack for movably supporting a set of hangers andarticles hung thereon and comprising a hanger rod upon which a set ofhangers may be hung; a pair of spaced arcuate rods extending upwardlyfrom and then arcing over to one side of said hanger rod; an elongatedbar slidably mounted on said pair of arcuate rods for movement onto andoff of an upper surface of the hanger rod; said elongated bar beingretained out of contact with the hanger rod when moved to the ends ofthe arcuate rods remote from said hanger rod; said elongated bar beingparallel to and of substantially the same linear extent as said hangerrod: and a pair of hooks extending upwardly from said hanger rod witheach hook member carrying at least one roller for rotation upon a railsupported above the hanger rod.

2. A portable garment rack in accordance with claim 1 including a stopextending upwardly from said hanger rod between said hook members forlimiting sliding movement of hangers hung upon said hanger rod.

3. A portable garment rack in accordance with claim 2 wherein said pairof spaced arcuate rods extend upwardly from and then to one side of saidhanger rod about opposite sides of said stop, and said elongated bar hasan aperture located and dimensioned to receive stop.

4. A portable garment rack in accordance with claim 1 in combinationwith track means along which said garment rack may be moved, and withsaid track means including a rail upon which said rollers may roll,mounting means for suspending said rail from ancillary structure, and atleast one stop pivotally secured to said mounting means for movementinto and out of a position limiting movement of said rollers upon saidrail.

5. A rack comprising a hanger rod upon which hangers may be hung; meansfor suspending said hanger rod in a substantially horizontal plane; apair of arcuate guide rods extending upwardly from said hanger rod andarcing over to one side of said hanger rod; and an elongated barslidably mounted on said pair of arcuate guide rods for movement intoand out of engagement with an upper surface of said hanger rod, saidelongated bar being retained out of contact with the hanger rod whenmoved to the ends of the arcuate rods remote from said hanger rod; saidelongated bar being parallel to and of substantially the same linearextent as said hanger rod.

3,921,814 6 6. A rack in accordance with claim 5 comprising a pair ofbar stops secured to said pair of arcuate guide rods to limit slidingmovement of said elongated bar on said arcuate guide rods away from saidhanger rod.

1. A portable garment rack for movably supporting a set of hangers andarticles hung thereon and comprising a hanger rod upon which a set ofhangers may be hung; a pair of spaced arcuate rods extending upwardlyfrom and then arcing over to one side of said hanger rod; an elongatedbar slidably mounted on said pair of arcuate rods for movement onto andoff of an upper surface of the hanger rod; said elongated bar beingretained out of contact with the hanger rod when moved to the ends ofthe arcuate rods remote from said hanger rod; said elongated bar beingparallel to and of substantially the same linear extent as said hangerrod: and a pair of hooks extending upwardly from said hanger rod witheach hook member carrying at least one roller for rotation upon a railsupported above the hanger rod.
 2. A portable garment rack in accordancewith claim 1 including a stop extending upwardly from said hanger rodbetween said hook members for limiting sliding movement of hangers hungupon said hanger rod.
 3. A portable garment rack in accordance withclaim 2 wherein said pair of spaced arcuate rods extend upwardly fromand then to one side of said hanger rod about opposite sides of saidstop, and said elongated bar has an aperture located and dimensioned toreceive stop.
 4. A portable garment rack in accordance with claim 1 incombination with track means along which said garment rack may be moved,and with said track means including a rail upon which said rollers mayroll, mounting means for suspending said rail from ancillary structure,and at least one stop pivotally secured to said mounting means formovement into and out of a position limiting movement of said rollersupon said rail.
 5. A rack comprising a hanger rod upon which hangers maybe hung; means for suspending said hanger rod in a substantiallyhorizontal plane; a pair of arcuate guide rods extending upwardly fromsaid hanger rod and arcing over to one side of said hanger rod; and anelongated bar slidably mounted on said pair of arcuate guide rods formovement into and out of engagement with an upper surface of said hangerrod, said elongated bar being retained out of contact with the hangerrod when moved to the ends of the arcuate rods remote from said hangerrod; said elongated bar being parallel to and of substantially the samelinear extent as said hanger rod.
 6. A rack in accordance with claim 5comprising a pair of bar stops secured to said pair of arcuate guiderods to limit sliding movement of said elongated bar on said arcuateguide rods away from said hanger rod.